Turkish FM hails importance of ties between Turkic states

Risks and crises associated with the challenges of our time emphasize the importance of cooperation between the Turkic states.

This was stated by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking at a press conference following a trilateral meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Transport of Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan in Uzbekistan on July 2, Anadolu reports. 

According to him, against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis, the role of the Middle Transport Corridor has increased, the use of which will contribute to the development of the states through whose territory of which it runs and income from the transit of goods will increase.

“Within the framework of the Middle Transport Corridor, Türkiye and Azerbaijan have implemented the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.

Given the fact that the bulk of trade operations in the world are carried out between Asia and Europe - about $1.5 trillion a year, the growing importance of this corridor becomes obvious,” the minister said.

He explained that the cost of transporting goods and the security of supplies distinguish the Median Transport Corridor.

Cavusoglu noted the need to open all logistics routes in the South Caucasus.

The head of Turkish diplomacy drew attention to the successful cooperation with Azerbaijan, including in trilateral formats, with the participation of Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Georgia and other countries.

“Today's meeting made it possible to include Tashkent in the mechanisms of the trilateral dialogue, which makes an important contribution to the prosperity of the Turkic world. These platforms are an indicator of the achievements of the dialogue of the Turkic states. Relations between Ankara and Tashkent are in the nature of a large-scale strategic partnership and the dialogue between Türkiye and Azerbaijan is at the level of alliance,” the minister said.

Cavusoglu called Uzbekistan's entry into the Organization of Turkic States in 2019 a "historic event".

He recalled that the next summit of the organization will be held in Samarkand on November 11, 2022. “Uzbekistan will chair the Organization of Turkic States for the first time. We believe that the summit in Samarkand will open a new page in the cooperation of our countries,” Cavusoglu said.

The Turkish minister focused on the growth of trade with Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

“By the end of 2021, trade with Azerbaijan reached $5 billion, and with Uzbekistan - $3.6 billion. Ankara aims to further increase these figures to the $10 billion mark set by the leaders of our countries,” he stated.

According to him, Türkiye aims to further develop ties with the Turkic states on the basis of mutual benefit and respect for interests.